Memorial Day in Black and White

We had a beautiful memorial day starting out watching airplanes land on the Sully, Iowa grass airstrip.  We then enjoyed the cadet pancake breakfast, then headed south to my parent's farm to go swimming.  The day ended with a bonfire and a beautiful sunset with friends from church.  Friends who are family and friends who are practically family.

Airplane parked along the airstrip, Sully Co-op in the background.

Joe let me take a picture of him in his veteran's hat.  He served in the Korean war, and was a boy in Europe during the WWII.

Plane landing on a very windy morning.  The boys love to watch the planes fly in.

I took a few pictures at Forest Cemetery in Osky, across from the church I grew up in.  The flags are always stunning. 

Row of Soldiers.

A pasture of cattle adjacent to the cemetery.  Since my camera was set for black and white, I thought the monochrome cows would make a nice photo.  They pose so well.

Another picture of the cows on the middle horizon. 

Daughters of the American Revolution.  Brian thought it was interesting to see a flag on a woman's grave, especially in the older section of the cemetery, born in late 1800s.

The gates to the cemetery.

And a picture from our bonfire party in Sully.  This is Jan's merri-go-round, which the boys thought was fantastic. It is from her school in Rose Hill, Iowa.  Surprisingly, it didn't creak much, and worked smoothly.  My dad rode on this merri-go-round as well when he was a little boy, since my dad's family and her family were good friends.  It was wonderful to see my boys riding on it, and hard to picture my dad as a little boy riding on it.

Although the windy day made for a breezy swimming in the farm pond, it made the flags in the cemeteries stunning.  This picture from Sully cemetery.  The boys fell asleep in their car seats on the ride home from swimming hard, and so Brian drove through so that I could see the grave of a young man, T.J. Christensen, who died in an accident while I was in high school.  He was a class older than me.  I sang in the choir at his funeral, and remember so many details of the day of his funeral, down to what music they played in the prelude.  It is one of the many formative memories from my time in high school and another connection to Sully CRC from my past.